Finality
by Elaby
Summary: My take on what might happen after the end of the series. Mostly a series of scenes showing what I think might happen to the characters.


  
  
"I wonder, I wonder!"   
  
Two shadows flitted across a rose-patterned wall, running swiftly and in perfect unison.   
  
"The sun is shining brightly at our lovely academy today!"   
  
The shadows rippled as they moved over an ornate pillar.   
  
"Do you know what I wonder?"   
  
Suddenly a third shadow joined them, passing them quickly from behind. The new, ponytailed shadow whirled and halted, sending the former two crashing into one another.   
  
"Extra! Extra, extra, extra! Haven't you heard? There's a duel in the forest!"   
  
"What?!" exclaimed the one with the bow in her hair.   
  
"But that's impossible!" said the one with the pigtails.   
  
"Come and see for yourself! Extra, extra!"   
  
Tossing her megaphone in the air and catching it again, the third shadow took off.   
  
For a moment, the first two hesitated. Then they simultaniously shrugged.   
  
"I can't believe it..."   
  
"But I've got to see, just in case!"   
  
They dashed off after their ponytailed companion. The three shadows stretched and flickered, passing along walls and iron, painted-white fences. Up a flight of steps they ran, past beautifully wrought but destinctly broken gates and into a forest. There, blankets littered the ground and students of all ages sat, enjoying their lunches and the cool scent of leaves.   
  
The three shadows halted, each on a seperate tree. Behind them, a group of middle school students gathered around a checkered blanket where two girls were arguing.   
  
The shadow girl with the bow cocked her head to one side. "This is...?"   
  
The third one pointed. "Yuriko said that Suki copied her homework and got them both in trouble!"   
  
One of the girls behind them slapped the other across the face.   
  
"See? A duel!"   
  
The first two shadows sagged in exasperation. Their companion shook her ponytail.   
  
"But I wonder..."   
  
"_You_ wonder?!" they asked in unison.   
  
"I wonder... where are their swords?   
  
"Kashira, kashira!"   
  
"Gozonji kashira?"   
  


* * * *

  
  
Wakaba trotted up a flight of stairs and twirled around at the top to glare down at the boy behind her.   
  
"Mou, Tatsuya! You're slower than anyone I've ever known!"   
  
The freckled boy momentarily joined her at the top, swinging his briefcase over his shoulder. Wakaba blinked, her mock-angry expression melting away.   
  
"Wakaba? What is it?"   
  
She shook her head. "Oh, nothing... It's just when you did that, with your briefcase, it reminded me of someone..." She turned and went to the window, resting her elbows on the sill. "It's a beautiful day today..."   
  
"That person..." Tatsuya came to stand beside her. "Was it that girl who you used to hang around with all the time?"   
  
Wakaba looked over at him. "Utena? Yeah, I think it was!"   
  
Tatsuya turned his back to the window, leaning against the wall. "Whatever happened to her?"   
  
"I don't know," Wakaba said, turning her attention back to the campus outside.   
  
They stood in silence for a moment.   
  
"Aren't you... worried about her?"   
  
Wabaka turned and gave him a strange look. Then she smiled. "No." She hopped up onto the windowsill, one leg crossed over the other. "I'm not worried."   
  
He watched her, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. His unasked question of "why" hung in the air.   
  
"No, I'm not worried. Because... somehow... I know she's all right." She looked down to the campus below, and the students milling here and there. "I know that where ever she is... she's all right." She glanced back at Tatsuya, and smiled again. "I don't know _how_ I know it. But I do."   
  


* * * *

  
  
The afternoon sun slanted through the high windows in the music room, bathing the polished grand piano in a spotlight of brightness.   
  
"_'Largo,'_ Kozue! It's written right at the top of the sheet! I told you go go slower... like this," Miki said, as he and his sister started the sonata over again. Kozue groaned.   
  
"Just because I said I'd let you help me with my piano-playing doesn't give you permission to be a slave driver, onii-chan," she said, poking him playfully in the ribs.   
  
"Gomen," he smiled, and looked up as he noticed Tsuwabuki Mitsuru standing behind him with a stopwatch.   
  
"Kaoru-sempai? What do I do if I want it to stop by itself at a specific time?"   
  
Miki leaned over and pointed at a switch. "Well, first you've got to press this button here to program it..."   
  
Kozue shuffled around the sheets of music, reading the title of each one and making various faces at ones she disapproved of. After successfully helping Tsuwabuki, Miki turned back to her.   
  
"Okay, Kozue-chan. What do _you_ want to do next?"   
  
Kozue set a sheet of music on the stand and began banging out a jazz tune. "Come on, nii-chan! Let's play something a little... _wilder!_"   
  


* * * *

  
  
"Faster! Come at me like you really mean it!"   
  
Shiori lunged with her foil, her back leg straightening completely, then dodged to one side and made a defensive step backward.   
  
"Good!" Juri pulled her blade back from where it had ended up, just over Shiori's left shoulder, and stood in a relaxed position. "Remember that there's a time to attack and a time to defend."   
  
Shiori nodded, beaming. "Arigatou, Juri-san!" Pulling her mask off, she headed for the watching crowd.   
  
The hallway was lit with the orange glow of sunset as Juri strode out of the locker room a half an hour later, pulling a few trapped curls from the collar of her uniform. After turning a corner, she slowed, seeing a familiar figure leaning against one of the windows.   
  
"Hello, Miki. Done with your studying already?"   
  
The boy started slightly at the sound of her voice. "Konnichiwa, Juri-san."   
  
Juri joined him at the window, resting her hands on the sill. She watched Miki with a vaguely concerned expression. He turned back towards the window.   
  
"Miki, is everything all right? You seem sort of sad."   
  
He shook his head. "Not sad, I guess... so much as nostalgic."   
  
Juri made a soft questioning noise, turning to face him. He looked at her suddenly, his expression subtly pleading.   
  
"_You_ remember her, don't you, Juri-san?"   
  
Juri looked slightly taken aback. Then she folded her arms slowly across her chest.   
  
"Yes, I remember her. But we seem to be the only ones, as far as I can tell."   
  
Miki's eyes moved away, back to the outside. His hand was trembling slightly on the windowpane. "I can recall only snatches... small images of her, and feelings that I associated with her. It was just a blur... all of it. But in it all, through all the confusion... Utena stood out."   
  
"I know." Juri sighed and pulled at her slightly open collar, fingering a golden chain. Then she smiled and lightly touched his shoulder. "Don't worry, Miki." Juri suddenly remembered someone who had said the exact same thing to her, not so very long ago. "A person like her will always survive."   
  


* * * *

  
  
The fireflies had just begun to come out and the street lights to flicker on when Saionji, briefcase in hand, strode up the walkway to the Kiryuu family mansion. He glanced around at the always impressive grounds, taking in the cool air and the scent of night-blossoming flowers. It reminded him of when, as children, he and Touga used to practice together at night.   
  
Shaking himself out of his memories, Saionji jogged up the stone steps and pressed the doorbell.   
  


* * * *

  
  
Nanami was hanging upside-down over the side of her bed, cell phone pressed expectantly to her ear.   
  
"No way! ... He _did?_ ... And did you say yes?"   
  
Twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger, Nanami squealed in delight. She righted herself when she heard the doorbell ring.   
  
"Hold on a second, will you, Keiko?"   
  


* * * *

  
  
Saionji was tapping his briefcase with slight impatience against his leg when the door opened.   
  
"Oh, hi, Kyouichi." It was Nanami, in her nightgown and a phone in her hand.   
  
"Evening, Nanami."   
  
"Onii-sama's upstairs," she called over her shoulder as she turned and went back to her telephone call. Saionji shut the door behind him and was about to ascend the staircase when he heard someone shouting over the classical music that played on the stereo.   
  
"I'm in the kitchen!"   
  
Saionji went down the adjacent hall, appearing at the door of the kitchen. He rested one hand on the doorjamb. Touga was standing at the counter, taking hot dumplings out of the dumpling maker and placing them on a plate.   
  
"Touga, you're making something? I'm impressed," Saionji said. _He_ was usually the one to do the cooking.   
  
"I'll bet. Now make yourself useful and carry some of this." The red-haired Seitokaichou loaded a covered dish and several glasses into his friend's free arm. Trying not to drop any of the crystal, Saionji followed him up the stairs to his room.   
  
"I'm glad you got here when you did," Touga said, setting the dumplings down on the table and taking the dish from Saionji. "I've got this paper I have to write and I need your assistance."   
  
Saionji put the glasses next to the food. "Touga needs help with schoolwork? Will wonders never cease?"   
  
Touga smiled. "You're very funny. Now, I know you've taken this government class already and I have no idea what the hell they're talking about in the book, so you're going to have to explain it to me."   
  
"Sure."   
  
An hour or so later, the dinner was finished and they sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by textbooks and papers. Touga picked up one of the books and flipped through it. "So what's that you're working on?"   
  
"Literature analysis," Saionji responded, pencil scratching across the paper he had propped on a notebook on his knee.   
  
They were silent for a while.   
  
"Saionji?"   
  
"Mmm."   
  
"Do you ever think about Anshi?"   
  
The pencil stopped.   
  
"Yes..." Saionji replied after a moment, gaze firmly fixed on the paper before him.   
  
After another pause, he continued. "Do you think of Tenjou Utena?"   
  
"Frequently," Touga said, without his friend's hesitation.   
  
The silence that followed grew a few decibles.   
  
"You loved her, didn't you?" Saionji asked softly.   
  
"Yes, I suppose I did..." Touga closed his book. "Just as you loved Anshi."   
  
Saionji shook his head, not in denial but only slight confusion. "She was not of this world. Neither was Utena."   
  
"No," Touga said. "And that is why they left."   
  
  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  
  
  
The sky was a glowering gray over that academy, promising a heavier rain than the drizzle which fell now. A group of female students in brown and navy blue uniforms huddled together under one umbrella, battling for it's protection in the face of the coming storm. Another student strode some way behind them.   
  
She had no umbrella.   
  
"That's that weird girl, isn't it?"   
  
"Yeah, she sure dresses funny..."   
  
"I can't understand why the teachers haven't bawled her out about it yet. She's so stuck-up, too!"   
  
"Yeah, she never hangs around with any of the other girls."   
  
One of the girls took a cautious and maybe even admiring glance at the student behind them. "I heard she beat the entire boy's basketball team the other day, all by herself!"   
  
The one who had spoken first snorted. "Yeah, right!"   
  
The girl, who appeared to be the ringleader, broke from the crowd and twirled around, facing the opposite direction.   
  
The pink-haired girl behind them was beginning to get wet.   
  
"Yukiko, what are you doing?" The girls in the crowd stumbled to a halt.   
  
"Your name's Tenjou, isn't it?"   
  
The girl stopped. She looked, her eyes focusing as if just noticing their existance. She nodded.   
  
"Did you beat the guy's baskeball team?"   
  
She said nothing, but began walking again. Yukiko grabbed her by the arm as she pushed by.   
  
"You're so weird! Why don't you act normally?"   
  
Still nothing. The pink-haired girl's eyes said more than her mouth ever could have, and Yukiko released her and backed off.   
  
"And why do you wear that strange outfit? You might actually be pretty if you wore girl's clothes."   
  
The girl stared at the ground. Yukiko returned to her bevvy of friends and they quickly hurried towards the school.   
  
The pink-haired girl remained.   
  
_Why DO I wear this...?_   
  
She raised the briefcase in her hand. Printed on a brass plate at the top were the words, "_Tenjou Utena, ninth grade._"   
  
"Ninth grade, huh?" she whispered.   
  
Utena could remember last year, her eighth grade year (all too well). But before that... seventh grade, sixth grade, fifth grade... It was all a...   
  
"...A blur."   
  
She ran a hand down the black sleeve of her uniform. _Maybe I wear this to remind myself... that I'll never give up hope._   
  
The storm broke, and Tenjou Utena went up the stairs into her school.   
  


* * * *

  
  
Rain was pouring in torrents outside as first period started. Students gathered in clumps all around the room, gossiping, laughing, and scrambling to finish homework. At the desk in the back, far from any others, Tenjou Utena sat staring out of the window. She rested her chin in one hand.   
  
_It rains a lot here... But there, it rarely rained._   
  
Memories flashed through her mind. Red cars zoomed past at breakneck speed, a pendant broke and shattered on the stone, a rose dropped. A girl with glasses raised her face to the weeping sky.   
  
Utena put her head down on her arms.   
  
"Please get to your seats, class," the teacher droned. "Before we start today, I'd like to announce that we have a new student."   
  
Utena's face remained hidden.   
  
"She's from..." the teacher squinted at the new student's transcript. "Well, it doesn't say where she's from. But I want you to treat her like you'd treat any new student to our school."   
  
Utena raised her head a bit, putting her chin on her folded hands. _Like they'd treat any new student..._ She had to resist the urge to snort.   
  
"I'll write her name up on the board."   
  
Utena sighed, wishing they could just start class and get it over with so she could go back to her room. With a half shrug, she raised her eyes to the blackboard.   
  
_Hime...   
  
...miya..._   
  
"_Anshi_..."   
  
The door moved open slowly, a delicate brown hand curled around it. Followed by a delicate brown arm, and a pretty girl in a pink dress with a cascade of violet hair.   
  
The teacher turned toward the students as a chair was upset in the back of the classroom.   
  
"Tenjou-san! Please take your seat!"   
  
She was completely ignored.   
  
Utena stopped in front of the girl. She raised a trembling hand, halting a fraction of an inch from the girl's chest, as if touching her would send her dissolving into sparkles.   
  
"Himemiya..." Her voice shook.   
  
Anthy smiled beautifically.   
  
"Utena."   
  
Their fingers entwined.   
  


* * * *

  
  
The sun was shining in the green field of that academy, where students gathered in groups to eat their lunch.   
  
"What a strange scene that was this morning," one girl mused.   
  
"Strange just like the girl who was involved in it," Yukiko said, casting a gaze over to a small hill where the pink-haired girl and the new student sat. The one in the dress leaned against the other's shoulder, her companion's arm around her waist.   
  
Yukiko put down her chopsticks.   
  
"What...? Yukiko, where are you going?"   
  
Anthy turned at the sound of footsteps behind them, straightening slightly.   
  
"You never answered me, Tenjou. Why do you wear that weird outfit?"   
  
Utena looked over her shoulder at the other girl, then stood, helping Anthy up. They clasped hands.   
  
"Why...?" she echoed.   
  
"Yeah, why."   
  
"Because..." Utena turned away from her, starting over the grass. After a few steps, she looked back.   
  
"I'm a prince."   
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  
  
  
And what happened to Akio, you ask?   
  
Three girls walked down Ohtori Academy's outside corridor, their semester reports in hand.   
  
"So what's the verdict?"   
  
One peeked into her folded card. "Oh, thank God! I passed Chemistry!"   
  
"How about you?" the first girl asked the third.   
  
"I'm not telling!" she stated.   
  
"Oh, come on!"   
  
"We're your friends! You can trust us," the first girl said, making a grab for the card. The third girl held it out of reach.   
  
"All right, all right! I really bombed the math final, and because of it, I'm failing the class."   
  
The other two murmured sympathetically. "What're you going to do?"   
  
"Well, you know how that teacher won't let anyone retake the final. So I guess I'll ask the Dean if _he_ can ask the teacher to let me take a make-up test..."   
  
"The Dean?"   
  
"You know, the Deputy Trustee Chairman."   
  
"Oh, yeah, him. I think I've seen him around campus..."   
  
"He's not very interesting."   
  
"It's funny," the third girl said. "Practically all the teachers here have tons of stories circulating around about them, but I haven't heard anyone even mention him." She looked over at the second girl. "Hey, you're the queen of the rumor mill around here... Do you know if he's nice or not?"   
  
She shrugged. "I've never heard anything about him. Not a thing."   
  
"Man, he _is_ boring."   
  
"For sure."   
  
"Wait, isn't your guidance counselor that really nice one? Why don't you ask her instead?"   
  
"Yeah, that's a great idea! I know _she'll_ help me!"   
  
High above, a dark hand rested on the windowsill. Ohtori Akio watched the three girls, a mob of students swarming around him as the end of class bell finished ringing.   
  
No one noticed him at all.   
  
With a last look out at the forest, where students milled to and fro with lunchboxes and blankets, Akio turned. He moved through the crowd like he didn't exist, and returned to his office, shutting the door behind him.   
  
Akio was alone.   
  
And it was as simple as that.   
  
  
  
~End~ 


End file.
